UNSHAKEABLE: The Apostle Paul said that his ambition was to preach the gospel where Christ was not known (Rom 15:20). And in the most stunning way, God honored that ambition, both in Paul’s lifetime but mostly throughout time going forward, to send the gospel around the world. God did through Paul more than the apostle ever imagined. So, what has God done through you lately? Do you know that God wants to give you a holy ambition for great things, too — yes, even supernatural things? The divine power that will accomplish your ambition is there, wrapped and waiting in heaven to be released to you. But God won’t waste one ounce of holy ambition on those who would use it for their own gain. However, for those who will open their hearts to the possibility of God using them, then doggedly dedicate themselves to being used for God’s glory alone will find a release of supernatural supply that will enable them to do what only God can do. That is the best kind of ambition; far better and more rewarding than any human ambition — even the most altruistic ambition. It is holy ambition.
Unshakeable Living // Romans 15:20
It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ is not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
It’s time to get your ambition on!
Ambition is something that in our day has an equally positive and negative connotation. In the negative sense, ambitious people are seen as willing to compromise, step on people, win at all costs, and be ruthlessly opportunistic to get what they want — which is usually “to the top.”
When we think of ambition in the positive sense, we prefer to speak of it in terms of passion. This sort of ambitious person is passionate; perhaps we might even call them driven. The Apostle Paul was all of those: driven, passionate, and ambitious in the best sense of the word.
Paul’s passionate drivenness was a holy ambition. It was holy because Paul clearly understood that his calling did not originate within himself, but it was from God: “…because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God…” (Rom 15:15-16) Paul had been given a divine purpose, it was that very purpose that inexorably drove Paul toward its accomplishment.
Furthermore, Paul was ambitious for all the glory to go directly to God: “Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done…” (Rom 15:17-18) Paul did not want achieve fame for himself, he wanted only to make God’s name famous among the Gentiles. That’s why Paul was dogged in his determination to take the gospel to Gentiles who had never heard, refusing to co-opt another preacher’s labor, but choosing rather to prophetically plant where no preacher had been. (Rom 15:20-22)
Finally, what elevated Paul’s ambition from merely human to altogether holy was the fact that is was authenticated by the power of the Holy Spirit through signs and wonders: “by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.” (Rom 15:19) God had called Paul to do what he was doing, Paul passionately did what he did for the glory of God alone, and that was the perfect recipe for the release of the divine power that enabled Paul to do what only God could do.
What has God done through you lately? You know, God wants to give you a holy ambition for great things, too — supernatural things! That ambition is there, wrapped and waiting in heaven to be released to you. But God won’t waste one ounce of holy ambition on those who would use it for their own gain. However, for those who will open their hearts to being used by God and then doggedly dedicate themselves to be used for God’s glory alone, God will release supernatural supply to do through them what only God can do. And that, my friend, is the best kind of ambition; far better, more rewarding, and soul-satisfying than any human ambition — even the most altruistic ambition. It is holy ambition.
Do you have it? If not, it’s time to get your ambition on! So sanctify your motives, open up your heart, and get ready for God to use you to achieve some glory for him!
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